The first rap battle of 2012 is officially in full swing and "Sway in the Morning" on Shade 45 and RapFix has the exclusive. Rumblings of a Common and Drake back and forth began to surface after the Chi-town MC dropped his single “Sweet” back in November, ranting about soft MCs. A month later Com admitted that Drake (and other soft rappers) was a target and on Friday Drizzy fired back lyrically with his verse on Rick Ross’ “Stay Schemin’.” Now, Common has responded on "Stay Schemin (Remix)," a track that debuted Monday on Sway Calloway's "Sway in the Morining."

“He opened his mouth and said some things, so if that’s what he want—all that subliminal [talk]…you could do that too, but say it now,” Common told Sway when the MTV News correspondent and Shade 45 radio host asked if “Sweet” was directed at the Young Money stand-out. “The verse is about me but when you hear some of the stuff on the chorus it’s like you can’t help but think about dude and I guess that’s what he felt. So at the end of day he fits in that category, he already embraced it, so wear it.”

On “Stay Schemin’” Drake fired back at an unnamed foe, a foe many believe to be Common. “Don’t be duckin’ like you never wanted nothin’/ It’s feelin’ like rap changed it was a time it was rugged/ Back when if a n---a reached it was for the weapon/ Nowadays n---as reach just to sell their record,” Drake spit.

Common hasn’t been the only one throwing shots at the Toronto MC. Com’s G.O.O.D. Music running mate Pusha T has also been involved in a battle of subliminals with Drake. Both Push and Common have recently released projects, though it is plausible that Drizzy’s bars were more directly aimed at Com, seeing as how “Sweet” came out a little more than a month before Common’s The Dreamer,The Believer LP.

What do you think of Common’s new diss track? Tell us in the comments!